Galvanizing-furnace



c. A. PORATH.

GALVANIZING FURNACE.

APPLCATlO'N FILED lULY 7.1919. 1,343,843. Patented June 15, 1920.

UNITEDISTATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL A. PORATH, OF KOKOMO, INDIANA.

GALVANIZING-FURNACE.

Application filed July 7, 1919.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CARL A. PoRA'rH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Kokomo, county of Howard, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Galvanizing-Furnace; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the'accompanyng drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts.

rlhis invention relates to galvanizing furnaces of that class which contain a bath of zinc for galvanizing wires immersed therein.

The chief feature of the invention is the provision of means for protecting the zinc from undue heat at certain points, and on the other hand, to subject the Zinc to substantially a uniform heat at all points.

One feature of the invention consists in employing lead or like heavy material which sinks to the bottom of the tank and protects the zinc above from the excessive heat to which the bottom of the tank is subjected, for ordinarily the bottom of the tank is more highly heated than other parts of the tank and often is in direct contact of the flames.

Another feature of the invention consists in placing on the under side of the tank tiling or like material for protecting it from the direct contact of the flames. The lead and the tiling protection prevent the disintegration of the lower part of the tank from the excessive heat and also permit the lower part of the galvanizing material to be more highly heated than other portions thereof.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of means for diffusing the heat to all parts of the under surface of the tank.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of means for controlling the travel of the heat so that more heat can be discharged on one part of the tank than another, if so desired.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of means for conveying the molten zinc to the exterior of the furnace and in position to be collected and again used should the tank disintegrate at any point and permit ,the escape of the metal therefrom.

@ther objects and advantages will be hereinafter more vfully set forth and pointed out in the accompanying specification.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 308,944.

In the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this application, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a furnace showing parts thereof broken out and parts in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the furnace showing parts thereof in dotted lines.4 Fig. 3 is a sectional view as seen on line 3 3 Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, l indicates the furnace walls, which are preferably built up of bricks, although other suitable material may be used if desired. Positioned between, and supported by said walls is a tank 2, which is preferably semicylindrical in cross section and oblong, said tank being formed of metal, and in said tank is placed a quantity of zinc 3, such as is used for galvanizing wire.

In the galvanizing process it is necessary to maintain the zinc in a molten state and to more eiiiciently accomplish this result bridge walls t are -built up over the base 5 of the furnace and under the tank, until the upper ends thereof contact with the under surface of the tank 2, said bridge walls being spaced apart to form a combustion chamber 6, said combustion chamber extending substantially the full length of the tank and centrally under the same.

Any suitable fuel may be used, although it is preferable to use fuel oil, which is provided through a burner 7 of any preferred make, the pipes 8 being attached to the burner for conducting steam or compressed air into the burner and into position to commingle with the fuel oil. The construction of the burner, however, is immaterial as it forms no particular part of the present invention.

In order to obtain a better combustion of the fuel,l air is commingled with the fuel after it leavesthe burner, and in order to heat the air before it is brought into Contact with the fuel, thereby enhancing the combustible dualities of the fuel, a tube 9 is extended longitudinally ofthe furnace below the base member 5 and through a conduit 10, one end of the tube being connected with any suitable form of blast fan (not shown), while the opposite end thereof is provided with an elbow 13 which extends upwardly and connects with the end of the tube 9 exteriorly of the furnace. The other Patented June 15, 1920.

end of the elbow projects through the end wall of the furnace and in alinement with the combustion chamber 6. The burner 7 is extended centrally through the elbow 13 sothat the air passing through'the tube surface of the tank, the bridge walls 4 are each provided withl a plurality of ports 14 adjacent the upper edges thereof and similar ports 15 at the lower edges of the bridge walls, the major portion of the heated gases passing through the portsy 14 and upwardlyv around the bottom of the tank. The side walls of the furnace are also provided with upper and lower tiers of vents `16 and 17 so as to give a proper draft to the furnace.

The burnt gases after passing the full length of the furnace, and while still in a heated condition, enter the by-passes 18 in the end wall of the furnace opposite the burner 7, the said by-passes communicating with the interior of the furnace at a point adjacent the upper edge of the end wall, while the other ends of the by-passes communicate with the conduit 10, so that the heated gases will surround the tube 9 while passing through the conduit. to reach the flue 19, which conveys the vases to the regulation stack (not shown), tQhis flue being located adjacent the end of the tube 9-containing the elbow. These gases while passing through theconduit, heat the air passing' through the tube 9 to a high degree, as the tube is heated for the full length of the furnace.

It isai common occurrence in devices of this class for` the dross, resulting from the molten Zinc, to cause the tank to rapidly disintegrate at points where heat`y is more or less directly concentrated thereon, and when such occurs, the metal within the tank descends into the furnace and unless some means is provided for saving the metal it becomes a total loss. To this end, therefore, the upperface of the base member 5 is inclined from the combustion chamber to the side walls of the furnace so 4that the metal will flow through the ports 15 from the combustion chamber and through the vents 17 in the side walls of the furnace and pass to the exterior of the furnace so that it can be collected and placed in a tank and reheated, thereby saving the metal.

As the heat, in the present construction., :s most intense at a oint on the tank registering with the comliustion chamber 6, and as the zinc products have a tendency, when brought directly into contact with a highly heated metal surface, to rapidly disintegrate the tank at this point, means is provided for overcoming this objectionable feature, that is to'say, means is provided for maintaining the temperature within the tank at this point substantially at the same degree as the temperature of the metal in a sufficient quantity of lead 2O is placed in the tank to form a coating over the interior of the bottom portion of the tank to a point beyond where the flame from the ports 14 contacts directly with the wall of the tank as it leaves said ports, and owing to the action of the flame in passing through the furnace the heat created thereby, on the remaining portion of the surface of the tank will be uniform, consequently the zinc products will not be sufficiently influenced by the heat as to cause the same to attack and disintegrate the parts of the tank engaged by the dross 21 of the zinc, thereby greatly prolonging the life of the tank.

It is sometimes necessary to cause a greater amount of heat to contact with the tank at one point than at another, and this result may be readily accomplished by providing dampers for the ports 14 so that certain of said ports may be .closed thus decreasing the heat Vat this point, and conveying the heat to such points as it is necessary to have an increased temperature. Any suitable form of damper may be employed, but in this instance blocks 22 are rested upon the top 23 of the bridge walls 4 and any suitable instrument may be introduced through the vents 16 to move said blocks to position over the ports 14 for preventing the flame from escaping through said ports.

To more completely protect the lower part of the tank from disintegration by rea-` iis son of the contact of the flames, a layer of tiling 30 is placed on the bricks on top of the bridge walls 4, as shown in Fig. 3 and over or closing the combustion chamber 6.

With this arrangement the temperature of the body of zinc in the tank can be maintained uniformly, the bottom portion thereof being protected by the lead and the tiling 30 so that it is no more highly heated than at the sides where the tank is in direct con# y tact with the heated air in the lateral chambers 31, forthe temperature in the lateral chambers is regulated by the means and in the manner above specified. Any other kind of refractory material' may be used instead of the tiling 30.

The invention claimed is:

l. In a galvanizing furnace, a tank .for containing galvanizing material, a substance of greater specific gravity than the galvanizing material in and covering the bottom of said tank, and means located under said tank for heating the bottom thereof.

2. In a galvanizing furnace, a tank for containing galvanizing material which is curved convex in `cross section, a substance of greater specific gravity than the galvanizing material in and covering the lower portion thereof, and means located centrally under said tank for heating the lower portion thereof.

3. In a galva-nizing furnace, a tank for containing galvanizing material which is curved convex in cross section, material within said tank having a greater specific gravity than the galvanizing material, va combustion chamber located centrally under said tank with the top thereof formed of refractory material against the bottom of the tank and the sides thereof having outlets for the flames` or heated gases.

4. In a galvanizing furnace, a tank, bridge walls below said tank and spaced apart to form a combustion chamber, means for conveying fuel into said combustion chamber, said bridge walls having ports for the escape of the flame from the fuel, and means for closing said ports whereby the flame may be discharged at any desired point from the combustion chamber.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

CARL A. PORATII. 

